Nash Says Wrestling Died When Benoit and Guerrero Became World Champions

Grantland.com has published a lengthy article on the life and controversial wrestling career of Kevin Nash, who has begun to gain traction in Hollywood. A notable point in the article has the six-time world champion reiterating his stance on “Vanilla Midgets,” a dismissive term he used as booker in the late ’90s in World Championship Wrestling to describe small-statured, gifted technical wrestlers who didn’t project larger than life personalities but were beloved by fans, such as Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. “Big Sexy” feels the professional wrestling industry died in 2004 at WrestleMania XX when WWE’s “Super Bowl” concluded with the image of the under six-foot-tall grapplers reigning supreme as champions and emotionally celebrating. Even though the two wrestlers are now deceased, he still believes they never belonged in the main event scene due to their small stature.

“When Benoit and Guerrero hugged [at the end of WrestleMania XX], that was the end of the business,” Nash says. “Has business been the same since that WrestleMania? Has it come close to the Austin era? Has it come close to the nWo or the Hogan era? You put two fucking guys that were great workers that were the same height as the fucking referees, and I’m sorry, man. Are you going to watch a porno movie with a guy with a three-inch dick? Even if you’re not gay, you will not watch a porno movie with a guy with a three-inch dick. That’s not the standard in porno films. So you put a 5-foot-7 guy as your world champion.”

Nash has the same problem with today’s “Internet heroes,” CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.

“They are not bigger than life,” he says. “I bet they could both walk through airports and not be noticed unless they have a gimmick shirt on and the belt.”

Nash also discussed how The Kliq shifted financial compensation in the wrestlers’ favor, how his 1995 heel turn inspired the “Attitude Era” and the subsequent ascent of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, cursing out Tom Cruise’s makeup artist on the set of Rock of Ages and more. The full article is available here.

This is one of the sadest things i have heard in a long time and Kevin Nash is a moron if he honestly believes that. Im not getting into the Benoit debate because its not worth the online argument, but Eddie Guerrero was one of the greatest champions of the last decade and with out a doubt deserved to be World Champion especially after the struggle he went through to get back to the top.

https://twitter.com/walrusdavid David RayShawn

Nash is pretty smart

Vampire Diahrrea

He thought “play” was an adjective. Dude’s retarded.

George Pole

Nash is just mad cuz CM Punk wouldnt lobby Vince & HHH to reform the nWo with him. He’s a has-been that wants another shot in the limelight and cant get over how over Daniel Bryan & CM Punk are

Kyle

What an asshole! The best thing that’s ever happened in wrestling is the smaller, more physically talented guys getting moved to main event status. What’s better, two 6’7″ guys slowly beating eachother with slow repetitive moves, or innovative smaller guys that can do high flying more technical moves? The smaller guys all day. Piss off Big Lazy, your a money hungry asshole, and you did not start the attitude era.

frank

Say what you will about Kevin Nash, but you can’t take away the fact that he and the n.W.o. started the attitude era. WWE’s attitude era was all based on concepts started and popularized in W.C.W. by Nash and those around him.

cage1

Steve Austin was not and has not been popularized by WCW. He went big in the WWE. Not to mention like TNA now WCW was full of WWE rejects. So did the Undertaker or Kane or the Big Show, Triple HHH. Eddie, Benoit, Mysterio even though I don’t really like him. Hardys, Dudleys, Edge and Christian. Guess what all made it big in WWE and blew up the attitude era. Not the NWO. or WCW

http://wallisvstheworld.blogspot.com/ Chris Wallis

ECW started the attitude era. WCW and WWE both stole ideas and talent from Heyman.

brianmouland

Rather see a quick match like Punk-Bryant than a slow dance between two oak trees

cage1

Sorry I would prefer to see the Undertaker knock the snot out of Kane or Big Show for an hour then watch guys like Miz or Del Rio and others like them. Miz is a joke and a half. Not to mention over hyped. Sick of them calling him a movie star and a blockbuster hit. He did two movies that aren’t out yet and probably won’t go to theatres. If they do will be there for what a week. or weekend. I still have not seen a trailer for either of the jokes movies.

Keuric

I think either one can work. When Nash became booker at WCW, he basically signed its death warrant. His buddies got big. Eric Bischoff, for a while, had WWF (I still will not call it WWE) on the ropes in the Monday Night Wars. He had deep pockets, deeper than WWF, and he used the Turner checkbook to his advantage.

But hubris got in the way. Smaller, but very talented ring technicians and less explosive personalities really, finally got pushed in the WWF. WCW had contracted most of WWF’s big guys – Hogan, Nash, Hall, Savage, Luger.

The whole NWO angle worked at first. But it was dragged out for years and years, it got stale. Big guys, but not technical wrestlers took off. I can sit through a Dean Malenko-Chris Jericho match because they just know what they’re doing. They throw punches and kicks, they can do suplexes like the big guys, but they can also do solid grapples, Jericho can combine a ground fight with aerial stuff.

The point is, Nash isn’t the arbiter of what good wrestling is. It isn’t the WWF sucking that killed wrestling. It was WCW losing its support completely from Turner Broadcasting. And that was caused because of those huge contracts, shitty booking and crap storylines torpedoing the ratings.

MBH

He is not only talking about benoit and guerrero, same case with jericho, bryan, mysterio, ziggler, punk, even Shawn Michaels, all under 6’0. this guy is a joke! He is probably forgetting the MSG incident with the Kilq, many could claim that wrestling died then. Is he also forgetting his alcoholic friend Scott Hall? He is trying to seem like a badass, but he can’t (specially after he played a girly cop in the longest yard!). He is insulting many good wrestlers that are short, he is discriminating them because of their physique. Wrestling is not always about huge guys that can barely move like him or Khali, sometimes its also about highflying moves or agile maneuvers

cage1

Ziggles is a joke and a half. He should have stayed gone like the rest of the Spirit Squad. Bryan is an idiot to.

Hector Medina

Are you $hitting me!?! Mr. Finger Poke of doom!!?!
Lets go way back to the MIz…. You trashed him too…A person who has busted his @ss for YEARS to get where he is now… A person that is a fan as mch as a superstar… a person who has headlined WRESTLEMANIA…. A person who cares about the sport more than the check BROTHER!
Wrestlemania XX had the most emotional and epic ending EVER!!!! That was my favorite Wrestlemania…It could not have ended any better than the way it has. Its a tragedy that because of Benoit’s undoing they will not recognize it anymore but it would have been talked about 4-LIFE!
Chris Benoit… That night he beat BOTH of your buddies at the same time by making HHH TAP OUT! He was WCW Champ WWE Champ and he would have been ECW Champ, which would have made him win the title in every major promotion he has been in.
LATINO HEAT… He was so over it was crazy! “I’m Your Papi” T-Shirts are STILL for sale… what shirts do you have Big Ugly? Even Stephanie admits he was going to get the title back cleanly over Batista.
You are a let down, disgrace piece of $hit that doesnt deserve to talk. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan would Make you tap by snapping your grandpa knees in 4 seconds flat! You have no respect. You talk about these not so Big Pappa Pump Wrestlers that can out wrestle you anyday…. you are second to The Great Khali! I cant belive that you step in the ring and people want to call the Shockmaster embarassing.
Take a look at yourself and your buddies…Mr. I’ll do porn with Chyna because I cant CUT THE MUSTARD (who by the way can no longer wrestle do to STD, that little druggy… How about your other friend who is a drunk…The one that WWE has EVER spent on ONE person when it comes to rehab…Lets not forget about The Show Stoppa…He lost his edge along with his smile…he never came back the same… DX was a hollow shell of what it used to be. it went from two bad @sses to Ren and Stimpy! and you…you are the worst of them all you have a bad attitude, a bad work ethic and HORRIBLE ring skills. Get a life dude… you are washed up and love attention.

LOST

Hey asshole this is all entertainment and all the matches are fixed what the fuck r u talking abt.

http://www.facebook.com/mike.wahl1 Y2Jin99

Its Still real to me Dammit waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ShadyAcid

I’ve lost all respect for Kevin Nash. Everyone else has already said how I feel so all I’m going to say is fuck you Nash. Go tear your quads you seven foot stack of shit!

http://www.facebook.com/landonbella Lionel Hernandez

sounds as if hes been watching too many gay porn flicks while on watever drug hes shooting and confusing it for wrestling

rockwell

kevin nash, please for the love of god! go away, the man who was a big part of killing wcw, then he says time warner killed wcw. well time warner did not kill the nwo, the did not do the booking and they did not book themselves to beat goldberg.nash you are an asshole who kisses somebody’s ass to get some place. you my friend should have left wrestling at least 13 years ago. and wished he was the one in the ring at wrestlemania that night. instead he is talking bad about two guys that are not here anymore. kevin nash you are apiece of shit.

Yeah if Nash was such a great booker. Then how come him, Scott Hall and others pretty much killed WcW IMHO!!! They both had overly ridiculous contracts and Nash booked to his liking and made sure no one ever went over on him. He just wanted to be the center of attention and made sure of it. That is how they got rid of Goldberg and killed off the whole thing FFS!!!

you need a good mix imo.. I loved menacing dudes like Psycho Sid or big fat guys like yokozuna and obviously everyone loved Andre the Giant. I also loved 1,2,3 kid and Shawn Micheals.. We need the little guys to remind us that anything is possible. But im sure in the attitude era it was also a hardcore Steroids era, and that’s the problem with the wwe, no one uses steroids anymore!! LOL, well a few guys probably do and find some fancy way to get away with it..

Vampire Diahrrea

Roidback uses steroids and he’s still stale.

brianmouland

Nash is by far one of the worst wrestlers in history; big,dumb and slow with one move. Have not had any interest in this clown for years

Fuck You Nashhole

Arrogant Fuckball. He can go fuck himself and die in a fire. I’ve got no problems with different opinions, that’s great, but Fuckballs opinions are ‘everything great about Wrestling is me, anything in wrestling that isn’t me is killing the industry, I am fucking awesome, everyone who doesn’t agree is a sick’. I absolutely hate this guy.

bigdee61

no nash just your career is dead you are the most overated a$$hole

Jerry Lynch

Maybe it is dead because TV Rasslin’ isn’t a sport.

cage1

It is more of a sport then curling is.

Shonuff

Kevin Nash is such a joke. WCW died when Nash became the booker there and refused to help create stars. When WCW died, there goes the biggest competition so one show cannot try to out-perform the other show. I’ve always preferred the “smaller” wrestlers because they’re more talented. Kevin Nash has a couple of moves and the jack-knife. Great Wrestling videos and Kevin Nash usually are not together in the same sentence.

AlvinChaos

I’m sure the actual tooth and nail wrestlers of circa 1940 would have had some interesting, completely unbiased and objective criticism of Kevin Nash.

people are opinions.

David Rea

So, Big Kev. when one of your best friends, Shawn Michaels, a six-foot, two-hundred pound Lucha-Libre style wrestler was wearing the strap, it was alright to be an undersized super star? But when anyone who didn’t bow down to the almighty Kliq tried to grab a piece for himself, they’re midgets who didn’t earn their spot? If only Nash could tear is vocal cords as easily as every other part of his wore down body.

Vampire Diahrrea

That’s different, because Shawn’s dick was bigger than his, or something.

brianmouland

What a bitter old has-been. PO Nash!

http://www.facebook.com/michael.souza.18 Michael Souza

I just cannot believe the crap that comes out of this guys mouth. Punk and Bryan are the best things to happen in WWE in quite some time.They are amazing athletes who put on spectacular matches on a consistent basis. Bryan has pretty good mic skills and Punk is a legend on the mic. Gee I know it’s not the same as seeing overgrown freaks with almost no wrestling ability bore the crap out of people. The problem with wrestling today isn’t the athletes it’s the writers. The storylines are usually terrible and they rarely give the fans what they want.

Vampire Diahrrea

The problem with wrestling today is that there aren’t enough screwjobs, fingerpokes of doom, and washed up old codgers running roughshod over the young whipper snappers. Punk and Bryan can’t hold a candle to Diesel vs Backland or Nash vs Hogan, BRUTHA. *sarcasm*

Phil Shifley

So if I read this correctly Nash is getting into porn and has a 3 inch dick.

GenesisOmega

and acording to Nash only super roided tall guys make good wrestlers. Until they rip a quad and their knees give out.

Jack of Spades

I’d watch pron of a guy with a 3 incher. it make me feel like i could bang some hot babes being that I’m a third bigger.

Vampire Diahrrea

No, he’s NOT getting into porn BECAUSE he has a three inch dick.

Gutter Candy

Wrestling died when Vince McMahon got involved with it — bring back the days of Johnny Valentine, Handsome Jim Valiant, The Sheik, and all the greats.

Kevin Nash? The same Kevin Nash that couldnt perfom a powerbomb properly? I see

wrestling fan

Kevin Nash does not embody the kind of wrestling the WWE fans want to see in our world today. I believe the masses want wrestlers with a certain look (physique), youth (age matters), mic skills, funny personality, and keep our attention. We want the impossible.

cage1

Age matters my ass. I would watch the Undertaker over Bryan, Mysterio, Ziggles, Punk, Sin Cara, Jericho even though I to am a Winnipeger. So no age doesn’t matter. Oh you say age matters. Those ones I mentioned besides Undertaker. The other older ones I would watch over them. HHH, Shawn, Kane, Show, Austin, Simmons, JBL, Sting, Jerry Lawyer, Regal, DDP should I keep going. No age don’t matter.

Vampire Diahrrea

Undertaker can only wrestle once a year. AGE MATTERS.

brianmouland

This poser has nothing to say

Daniel2112

Aww, lookie here, the has-been has a sandy vagina! You know, for a wrestler, Nash makes a wonderful actor. No, really. Credit where it’s due, he’s funny and charismatic as an actor, but as a wrestler 5’9″ Georg Hackenschmidt or 5’11” Frank Gotch would systematically dismantle Big Sloppy’s joints in alphabetical order.

Eddie G

This is probably my favorite comment in the list. Dismantling Big Sloppy’s joints in alphabetical order.

Don417

This from the clown that is best known for the “Finger Poke of Doom”? Sorry, Kev but that act contributed to the downfall of wrestling more than Chris and Eddie. And to say small guys cant be over or legit fake champions sounds like elitist jealousy at best.

Don417

Did big sexy pull a quad when he did the interview?

Juan Diego Gomez Sanchez Perez

Major competition (not just any competition, but MAJOR competition) is what started the attitude era. Simple.

StuPidasso

Kevin Nash you sack of dog shit. Guerrero and Benoit worked like dog’s to achieve the fan’s respect and cared enough about the business to be professional and learn more then 5 wrestling moves. Your success on the other hand was based largely on McMahon’s producing you as a unstoppable monster. You should shut your mouth and be happy with the money you made (and did not deserve) and reflect upon what you could have done to give back to the ‘small’ wrestlers that put you over you made you rich. You make me want to puke.

http://www.hotinyuma.com/ Andy Anderson

Nash sounds upset that the wrestling world didn’t agree that height made up for lack of talent. Nash was always a second fiddle who needed a strong lead to make the spotlight. He couldn’t just power his way where charisma was required and couldn’t understand that guys like Benoit could wrestle circles around him. I just lost a ton of respect for Nash. I for one was tired of seeing Benoit screwed over and relegated to minor titles because of his size and Eddie earned his spot as has Little Ray. Daniel Bryant and CM Punk are not my favorites because both are assholes but they possess skills that Nash never took the time to learn.

Soulrak

Wow. Tell us how you really feel Nash. First of all some of the greatest champions were never physically larger than life, so to speak. Ric Flair, one of the greatest champions in the history of Wrestling was not exactly appealing to the eye. His very own buddy & Kliq member Shawn Michaels wasnt exactly Mr Olympia neither. What a dumb statement to make. It has nothing to do with physiche & everything to do with entertainment. He may believe that having a more physically gifted person is ideal. Id agree with that. However.. that doesnt make a person successful by any means. Theres been a plethora of these types that havent lasted a full year in the wrestling business. A veteran like himself should know that. Doesnt surprise me though, Nash is known for being an ignorant schmuck. Oh & by the way, I really do not care about a mans penis in a porn film whatsoever. Hardly a focus for me. Strange analogy to boot.

Knitemare

Shut up Nash you suck.. Retire from wrestling.. Eddie and Benoit was the greatest technical wrestlers of all time and they both deserved the titles.. You’re just mad because you never won the wwe title

Jake Nazar

He did.

MR. JUAN_YOUR WARLOCK

Only an imbecile would leave their car unlocked, with the keys in the ignition, and then be surprised when the vehicle was stolen… Typical
Imbecilic white trash rhetoric.

http://www.facebook.com/brian.mouland.908 Brian Mouland

Nash was never a wrestler just a big guy with four wrestling moves and a gimmick that has just gotten old and boring

The_Yeti_Knows

Why is it then that you’ve been beating off to his posters since 1992 Moutard you freak ?

Guest75

Oh man, it’s a Kevin Nash story where he doesn’t flatter the internet. Someone que the quad jokes!

StonedCold

Gotta say, Nash isn’t wrong about this. I’ll just speak for myself on this, but Wrestlemania XX was indeed the last WM that I ever purchased. I halfway watched Raw and never watched Smackdown for the next 2-3 years. I remember exactly the last Raw I ever watched. It was the one where the Titan Tron fell down on Vince. Ever since that night, I’ve only watched TNA once every month or two whenever I catch it on. Point being, I don’t have 1/10th of the interest in pro wrestling as I once did.

StonedCold

I’ll even go one further… The decline, for me, was when Jericho beat Rock AND Austin in the same night to become world champ. I loved Jericho in WCW and at first with WWF, but he definitely wasn’t world champ material and DEFINITELY shouldn’t have been able to beat both of WWE’s best drawing world champs of all time in one single night. I remember one Raw afterwards that Jericho was so small that he couldn’t turn Kane over when he tried to put the Walls of Jericho on him. Fell over two or three times, lol. Anyhow, I’m sure I’ll get cussed for this, but I’m just saying what went down with me as a viewer.

StonedCold

And for the record, I hate Nash… HATE him. But I agree with him here.

wilo831

I love wrestling and got respect for Kevin Nash…but his comments just slapped the business that made him famous right in the face….Wrestlemania XX was awesome..small grapplers are an art to watch….or no maybe putting your opponent in the corner and try giving him knees but instead hitting him with your ass cheek is better…Nash wrestling will never die

#overrated
#weaklinkofclick
#HATER
#

Chris Trottier

Fuck you Kevin, Eddie and Chris were the guys who gave other people in WWE a chance like Rey-Rey, Chavo, hell even Gregory Helms and Christian got chances for it. All because you and Scott decided to suck dick for Matches or do your crack that ended your career doesn’t mean you have any right to shoot down two of the greatest wrestlers ever.

jacob

um..wwe is fake. so ya’ll should get a life. thank you. bye.

Andrew

Does it matter I can watch either guys like big show taker triple h but also eddie (R.I.P) Benoit (R.I.P) rey and wrestling is not dead it still has life it has gotten worse but they can change it before it goes completely downhill

http://twitter.com/kiaba360 kiaba360

It’s ridiculous how bitter Nash sounds.

LOST

Totally agree with nash. wrestlers like cm punk and every midget asshole has ruined the image of wrestling. rey mysterio becomes fucking world heavyweight champion, there was a time when wrestlers like austin HHH and undertaker were out there,

Shawn Perry

So, Nash likes watching big cock? I needed to know that.

FattieAcid

i personally think wrestling died right after the cew/wcw invasion. The invasion itself was god damn awesome but right after that, when wwF became wwE and they started “drafting” wrestlers to smackdown and raw.. THAT’S when wrestling died.

FattieAcid

ecw**

SachBro

What a sore loser? Even at his peak, he could never draw the excitement that you would see in a typical Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit match. Do I need to remind everybody that the best in-ring worker in WWE history (Kurt Angle) was not really a “Larger Than Life Character” per Nash’s definition. Punk has been doing what no current heal can do in WWE. The Great Khali looks larger than life, his only problem is that he can’t even walk straight, let alone competing and giving us a good match. RVD is a small guy, does that mean he was not a good wrestler? I watched some of Nash’s matches and they were pathetic. He never needed slo mo replays coz he was a sloth in the ring. By the way, the wrestling died the moment this product turned PG and Cena started his Super Cena torture.

johnjacobjingleheimer

Someone sounds bitter.

http://www.facebook.com/dewey.kerr Dewey Kerr Jr.

Its all Fake anyway So Who cares.. Its just Entertainment for the Mentally challenged of the World..

Name

Nash thinks he’s some kind of smark trolling us when he discounts two of the best in-ring performers of all time. His sloppy, slow, awkward performances were corny. You get over with talent, not just because you’re big.

tazz

Nash almost killed wrestling. If if it were up to him, he would be champion forever. Only hire guys thatll make him look good.

http://www.facebook.com/mark.forgot.7 Mark Forgot

You won’t find a bigger mark for himself than Kevin Nash. The guy is still stuck in the late 90’s when he was relevant. Nash never did anything without leaching off bigger stars. You don’t have to be 6’6″ 285 pounds to be a star.

ShadowSD

The nWo era was terrible. Its limited ratings success came when WCW’s meager audience expanded with a spike of a brief nationwide trend among jocks and frat guys, not long-time wrestling fans, relying on a gimmick with a lynchpin of what had become old man heel Hulk Hogan coming in and dominating with an arsenal reduced to back scratching, air guitar, and a beard made of magic marker. That’s a thousand times lamer than any 5’7 technical wrestler.

The fact is Nash hasn’t had a top shelf character since his WWF days as Diesel, and he can’t stand it. Not only did his character become erratic and less intimidating without the competence of WWF bookers, but his best match to this day was his last WWF match ever against The Undertaker at WMXII (a match that I personally liked at least as much as the IronMan match later that night).

http://www.facebook.com/mike.wahl1 Y2Jin99

Nash is an idiot. I bet Chris Benoit would have beaten the shit out of him with ease. Wonder what he thinks of Daniel Bryan and the Miz or CM punk as champs. zzzzz

http://www.facebook.com/mike.wahl1 Y2Jin99

Guess I should have read the rest of the article. lol

desmcdade92

Yeah Kevin Nash is a douche bag the most overated wrestler of all-time he has no respect for the business he is a moron you could argue WCW died after that dumb ass finger poke of doom bullshit.

my2cents

I miss the old wrestling with the closest thing to real wrestling, such as with Nash, Hall, Goldberg, and some of the others. All these runts do now is choreographed high fly moves, and dancing around the ring. And in most cases, ya know how it’s going to end. BORING!! It is hard to respect a wrestler that is smaller than me [ 6′]. I enjoyed watching Benoit and Gherrero. They were kinda in between the old and new. And used wrestling moves more than choreographed dance moves.

Eddie G

Who else remembers CM Punk’s comment about the Kliq? Where that is the sound of the remote when a person changes the channel whenever Kevin Nash comes on the screen, or the sound of Kevin’s knees when he walks: click, click, click.

http://www.facebook.com/augustus.oprahoppong Augustus Oprah Oppong

Pls.we the folk are asking mr Goldberg and mr Batista to come back in the ring and WWE/WCW thanks.

Mike

Who is Kevin Nash?

Elijah Smith

he’s cant get his head out of the 80’s not every wrestler wants to be
ryback size,doing,nothing but body slams,wrestling has evolved guys are smaller,yet faster,who use the entire ring to their advantage,and to have the audacity to think he started attitude was a joke,Attitude started was belived to got its birth from Vince,Bret,Shawn,Austin,the guys who caried WWE/F when they were at their worst against WCW-the show Nash went to during the attitude era!